Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

.72 h e...:... ; ( OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 0 1 AUSTIN I h “‘“SELLLl)S_ &a@ , IS-- Honorable Sidney Isthem .. seoretary of State .:. Austin, Tex6s . ., Attention8 ‘Wr. Boz!aoe B. ;Se8oiona : A\ 1 appllcatlon or in pr0p3r r0rm the applicant is . his llcenzse or re- a vlthdraual of the atloa before ectlon en taken to aomplet8 we same? And 0 Fe- ’ Queatlon. : ‘j ~. , it la necessary for us to know whether the fees ,,‘..* chnrged are to be eonsldered filing or lloeaelng fees, We.ahould like to be advised on the iollov- .~~ iag~~spsoliia queetioua, Can the $3.00 fee be refunded when ea~om- ,” ! 73 honorable Sldeey UtM, page 2 2 ‘lloense or requeeta a ulthdraual of the appllaa- tloa before action has been taken to oouplete or raruse same? “2.. Can the $3.00 fee be refunded where the applicant falla to complete orlgiual or reneval applloatlon In proper form?” Seatlou 6a OS ~rt~ole 65~. Vernon*a Annotated. Civil Statutes, providea, in part, aa i’olloua~ “Any appllaant desiring to act as a veal em- tate dealer In this State shall file vlth the Ad- ministrator of the Securities Dlvleloa of the of- fice of the Secretary of State an applloation for a license thereror. The applloatlon ehall be la I~, auah form aa the Administrator of the Seaurltles Dlvlslon of the offlw of the Seoretary Of State. .“, play presurlbe,and .nbUl set forth: ... .‘. ‘I I’ l . .. Sectlona 16 and 18 of htiole 657%. supre, rorpea- . #,.: .,~. . t lvely provide : ,..’ .a> - “sec. 16. !PheAdmlniatrator’ of the .SeaurI- .I .:. ties Dlvlsion of the offiae of the Secretary of’ State shall charge aud collect the follovlng fee8 .C.‘ and shall duly pay all fees reoelveb into the ,:.‘. State Treaeuvg. (a). A fee ,of Three Dollars ($3) for the ill- 4 ‘. lng of any original or renewal applloatlon of a ” ‘\ real estate dealer, vhlch fee shall include the ooet of the lasuanoe of a llaenue if any should be laaued. *(b). A fee of Three Dollars ($3) for the filing of any orlglnal or renewal application of a real entate dealer, which fee shall laolude the aoat of the license, vho 1s a member of a partner- ship, or ,aslroaIatlon or 6~. offloer of a oorpora- tlon licensed under the provisions of thla Aot, ,’ other than tb member of the partnership,, or asuo~ elation or the: officer of the oorporatlon uamed ln the license lseued to. ruoh:prtn?rrhlp, ;aaao-, ointlon, or oorporatlon. : 74 Eonorable Sidney Utham, pge 3 - 'l(c). A See of Three Dollars ($3) for the ‘.I ~ ., Siling of any orlglual or reneval appllaation of a real estate salesman, vhlch fee shall lnolude the cost of the issuanoe of the.llaense if any should be issued. .~‘Sec. 18. Upon and after the effective date ” .; of this Act, all moneys derived from Sees, aa8ess- mentt9, or charges under this Act, shall be paid ‘~ by the Administrator of the Securities Division ‘, ~’ of the ofSlco.oS the Secretary of State into the State . .‘. .State Treasury for safe-keeping, and shall by the . _~ Treasurer be placed lo. a separate fund to .., ~~~‘ be, aiallable for the use of the Administrator OS ../. ? ’ the SeourLtlee~ Division OS the oSfIce.‘of the Sec- retarg of State la, the admInistration of this Act ’ upon requisition of the Administrator of the Se-, ;Sw;;$&; Dlvlslo~ oi ..theofilce, of The 3eomtary . .:.... . . . . .. 1‘.~ ._’ You~vill cibaervd that ,by the olear vordlng of Seo- tion 16, supra, the fee 1s “for the filing” and “shall lnolude ‘. the cost of the lssuanoe of a license lf any should be issued.‘. In our opltion, therefore, the fees cbarged under Seatlon 16,,. i :‘; - supra, should be denominated filing fees. t ;,: .~ ( Whena peraoa has voluntarily ,msde such a payment * ,, eannot reaover it; henoe It should not be refunded. ‘. This fee covers the expense of “the flllng of any ’ appllcatIons,v the investigation of the .appllcaat, and ‘. ‘&e*oost of tho lssuaace ‘of a license lf any should be lssue&*,, You will further observe that. in, each .of your ques; tlons the license did not issue beoause of some fault of ,the : applioant . It follol?s that ve yaaaly your two Quostlou~ln ‘the negative. . ,< =‘ .;